The Jewish Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, was later said to date to about this time. The first Jews who arrived were said to have brought a stone from the ancient temple of Jerusalem that was destroyed by the Babylonians.
Links: Israel, Jews, Tunisia, HistoryBC

Ibn Khaldun (d.1406), Berber historian, was born in Tunis. He was also a social scientist and political activist and developed theories on economics and politics. He authored the "Muqaddimah" (introduction to history), that gave an in-depth analysis of the cyclical nature of the rise, maturation and decline of political regimes and economies. “Only tribes held together by a group feeling can survive in a desert.”
Links: Berbers, Historian, Tunisia

1535

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V led a naval expedition to Tunis against Barbarossa. The foray proved successful, but Barbarossa escaped and continued to fight.
Links: Holy Roman Empire, Tunisia

1798 Mar 26

Tunis, under the rule of Bey Hamuda Pasha, signed a treaty of peace and friendship with the US following negotiations with William Eaton. The American Revolutionary War veteran had been recently appointed consul to the North African kingdom.
Links: USA, Tunisia

US navy ships began to bombard the Tripoli port of Derna. Mercenaries gathered in Egypt and a small contingent of US Marines under former Tunis consul William Eaton attacked Tripoli and captured the city of Derna [later part of Libya].
Links: Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Tripoli

A peace treaty with Tripoli, which followed treaties with Algeria (Jun 30) and Tunis (Aug 28), brought an end to the Barbary Wars. Commodores Stephen Decatur and William Bainbridge had conducted successful operations against the Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
Links: Algeria, USA, Libya, Tunisia, Tripoli

1938 Apr 9

In Tunisia French troops cracked down on nationalist-inspired rioting in Tunis. 122 Tunisians were killed by French troops. Tunisians remembered this as Martyr’s Day.
Links: France, Tunisia, Massacre

1942 Nov

German troops arrived in Tunisia. The nation was home to some 100,000 Jews at the time. The Germans imposed anti-Semitic policies that included fines, forcing Jews to wear Star of David badges and confiscating property. More than 5,000 Jews were sent to forced labor camps, where 46 are known to have died. About 160 Tunisian Jews in France were sent to European death camps.
Links: Germany, Jews, Tunisia

1943 Apr 191943 Apr 20

Lance Sgt. Haane Manahi (d.1987) of New Zealand performed gallant actions against overwhelming odds in the bloody battle for Takrouna, a fortified citadel in Tunisia, North Africa. In 2007 the Maori trooper was posthumously honored he 64 years after he was denied a top gallantry award despite a commendation signed by four commanding generals.
Links: New Zealand, Tunisia

In Tunisia Khaled Abdelwahhab hid a group of Jews on his farm outside Mahdia, saving them from the Nazi troops occupying the North African nation. In 2007 Abdelwahhab became the first Arab to be nominated for recognition as "Righteous Among the Nations," an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from Nazi persecution.
Links: Germany, Israel, Jews, Tunisia

1956 Mar 20

Tunisia was granted independence by France. Tunisia became an independent nation under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba, a Francophone lawyer. He launched a campaign advocating birth control. By 2003 the fertility rate plunged from 7.2 in the 1960s to 2.08. Bourguiba created a paternalistic and monopolistic ruling party that continued for 3 decades.
Links: Tunisia

1957 Jul 25

The monarchy in Tunisia was abolished in favor of a republic. Habib Bourguiba (1903-2000) began serving as president and continued to 1987.
Links: Tunisia

1970 Sep 27

A cease-fire accord was signed in Cairo between the Jordanian army and Palestinian guerrillas by King Hussein and Yasser Arafat brokered by the Arab peace committee headed by Bahi Ladgham of Tunisia.
Links: Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Tunisia

1977 Sep 10

Convicted murderer Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant, became the last person to date to be executed by the guillotine in France.
Links: France, Murder, Tunisia

TimelinesA text-based site.

1981

In Tunisia radical preacher Rached Ghannouchi and other intellectuals, inspired by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, founded the Islamic Tendency Movement, which denounced violence and endorsed pluralism and democracy. He was accused of fomenting unrest and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 1987 he was sentenced to life behind bars with hard labor under the regime of Habib Bourguiba.
Links: Tunisia

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali became president of Tunisia after doctors declared Habib Bourguiba (84) medically unfit to govern. Mr. Ben Ali led a peaceful coup that ended the 30 year rule of Habib Bourguiba. "The Tunisians are Sunni Muslims and deny polygamy, admit abortion, and abjure the veil."
Links: Tunisia

1988 Apr 16

Abu Jihad, [Khalil al-Wazzir], PLO-leader, was murdered by Israeli assassins in Tunisia. They left the chief strategist of the Palestinian uprising with 170 bullets in his body. The Palestine Liberation Organization accused Israel of assassinating al-Wazir, a top PLO military figure. Palestinians reacted angrily, and at least 14 were shot and killed by Israeli troops during clashes in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank. In 2012 Israel admitted responsibility for the killing of Abu Jihad.
Links: Israel, Palestine, Tunisia

Tunisia held elections which were heavily falsified. An Islamist-backed coalition still managed to win 17 percent of the vote. Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi fled to Algeria. Hundreds of Islamist activists who stayed behind were thrown into prison, often on flimsy charges. In 1991 Ghannouchi moved to Britain.
Links: Tunisia

In Tunisia military officers allegedly held secret meetings with a view to toppling Ben Ali. The case became known as the "Bakaret Essahel affair", named after a village 45 km (28 miles) south of Tunis. The officers involved were tortured.
Links: Tunisia

In Tunisia Habib Bourguiba former president and independence leader, died at age 96.
Links: Tunisia

2000 May 31

In Luxembourg Neji Bejaoui, an unemployed Tunisian immigrant, took 37 chil-dren and 3 teachers hostage in Wasserbillig. Police posing as journalists shot and wounded the hostage-taker after a 30-hour standoff. No one else was injured.
Links: Luxembourg, Tunisia, Migrant

2002 Apr 11

In Tunisia a gas tanker truck crashed into the wall of a El Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba and killed 14 Germans, 6 Tunisians and a Frenchman. The government at first called it an accident. Later evidence indicated that it was an act of terrorism. Nizar Nawar (24), a Tunisian citizen who had studied in Canada, was the driver. Al Qaeda later claimed responsibility. In 2006 a Spanish court sentenced two men to a total of 10 years in prison for their part in a suicide bombing. In 2006 Nawar’s uncle, Belgacem Nawar (44), was convicted in Tunis and sentenced to years in prison for aiding in the attack.
Links: Spain, France, Germany, Suicide, al-Qaida, Tunisia

2002 May 7

An EgyptAir Boeing 737 with 62 people crashed in bad weather near Tunis. 14 people were killed.
Links: Air Crash, Egypt, Tunisia

2002 May 18

The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted Abdel Azeem al-Muhajir, a senior al Qaeda leader, that a strike against the US was imminent and that the recent attack in Tunisia was its work.
Links: USA, al-Qaida, Tunisia

TimelinesA text-based site.

2002 Sep 2

Tunisia's highest court upheld jail terms against opposition leader Hamma Hammami, head of the outlawed Communist Workers Party, and two officials of his political party.
Links: Tunisia

2003 Jun 20

A boat carrying some 250 people toward Italy sank off the Tunisian coast, killing at least 50 people. The boat's occupants were all thought to be illegal immigrants.
Links: Tunisia

2003 Jun 22

Greece seized a Comoros-flagged cargo ship that wandered the Mediterranean Sea with 750 tons of explosives on board. The Baltic Sky set off from Gabes, Tunisia, last month with the explosives and 8,000 detonators and fuses destined for Sudan.
Links: Greece, Sudan, Ship, Tunisia, Comoros

2003 Sep 30

Eighteen accused al-Qaida sympathizers were convicted in Belgium's biggest terrorism trial. Nizar Trabelsi of Tunisia, who once played professional soccer in Germany, received the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison from a court that also convicted 17 other men and acquitted five others.
Links: Belgium, al-Qaida, Tunisia

2003 Dec 5

In Tunisia an informal, two-day summit brought leaders from five southern European countries together with five of their counterparts from across the Mediterranean.
Links: Tunisia

President Bush praised social progress in Tunisia and welcomed its leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as a partner in the fight against terrorism while also urging political reforms in the moderate Muslim nation in North African nation.
Links: USA, Tunisia, BushGW

2004 Apr 3

In Spain Sarhane Abdelmajid Fakhet (35), a Tunisian national and the alleged ringleader of last month's train bombings in Madrid, was among 5 suspects who blew themselves up as police raided their apartment.
Links: Spain, Tunisia

2004 Apr

In Tunisia the Nawaat collective blog was created. It was quickly blocked and remained blocked until January 2011. It played a major role in channeling the opposition to Ben Ali's long rule and covered protests that culminated in his ouster.
Links: Tunisia

An Arab League summit met for a 2-day session in Tunis. 8 Arab leaders, including Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, failed to show up and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi walked out on the 1st day.
Links: Libya, Arab League, Tunisia

2004 May 23

In Tunisia Arab leaders concluded a 2-day summit and committed their countries to political reforms.
Links: Arab League, Tunisia

Twenty-two would-be immigrants drowned and 42 were missing after a boat that was to have carried them across the Mediterranean broke up and sank off the Tunisian coast.
Links: Tunisia

2005 Aug 6

A Tunis Air jet carrying 35 passengers went down in the sea off the Sicilian coast, and rescuers were on their way. 16 people were killed, while 23 survived. A bad fuel gauge on the Tuninter plane caused the crash. On March 23, 2009, the Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency measures before crash-landing his plane, was sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court along with his co-pilot. Another five employees of Tuninter, a subsidiary of Tunisair, were sentenced to between 8 and 9 years in jail.
Links: Air Crash, Sicily, Tunisia

In Tunisia 8 prominent opponents of the government went on a hunger strike ahead of a world summit on information in Tunis. They called for freedom of the press and of association and want Tunisia’s 600-odd political prisoners to be freed.
Links: Tunisia

2005 Nov 16

A UN technology summit opened in Tunisia after an 11th-hour agreement that leaves the United States with ultimate oversight of the main computers that direct the Internet's flow of information, commerce and dissent.
Links: UN, Technology, Internet, Tunisia

In Tunis US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and leaders of Tunisia pledged to build closer military ties to help combat Islamic extremism.
Links: USA, Tunisia

2007 Jan 3

In Tunisia at least 14 people, including two security forces, were killed in the shootout in Soliman, 25 miles south of the capital, Tunis. Fifteen people were arrested. On Jan 12 the interior minister said nearly 30 Islamic extremists involved in a deadly gunbattle with police had blueprints of foreign embassies and documents naming foreign envoys.
Links: Tunisia